Caulking gun cartridtge



Nov. 29, 1966 .1.vALK, JR 3,288,333

CAULKING GUN CARTRIDGE Filed Sept. 21, 1965 la FIG. l /6 /NI/EA/ToR /23./oH/v VAL/f. JR,

22 A TTORNEV United States Patent O 3,288,333 CAULKING GUN CARTRIDGE.lohn Valk, lr., 114 E. Orchard St., Allendale, NJ. Filed Sept. 21,1965, Ser. No. 488,905 Claims. (Cl. 222-95) This invention relatesgenerally to caulking gun cartridges, and specificallyto caulking guncartridges which are loaded with a sealed bag containing the material tobe applied by the caulking gun. It is to be understood that whilereferences are had herein to caulking gun cartridges, the material to beapplied from such a cartridge is not necessarily a caulking material,but can be any of numerous other types of material which are usuallyapplied by being extruded from a nozzle; as for example, withoutlimitation, rain gutter Sealers, driveway crack fillers, plasticplugging materials, ready mixed cements and water pointing-up materials,masonry fillers, ceramic tile fillers, furnace brick fillers, etc.

It is an object of this invention to provide a cartridge for a caulkinggun which will not burst open under pressure during use.

lt is another object of this invention to provide a caulking guncartridge which will seal in the moisture content of its material.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a caulking guncartridge which will not discharge the moisture of its contents so as toimpair the strength of the cartridge wall, weaken it, and cause it toburst.

lt is still a further object of this invention to provide a bagcontainer insert for a caulking gun cartridge which will not jam in thecartridge during use, nor will it rupture and randomly distribute itscontents, nor will it jam the piston of the caulking gun.

These objects and advantages as well as other objects and advantages maybe attained by the device shown by way of illustration in the drawings,in which:

FIGURE l is a perspective, partially sectioned view of a caulking guncartridge positioned in a caulking gun, which gun is shown by dottedlines;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of slick liner or sleeve for thecartridge or tube;

FIGURE 3 is a partially sectioned view of a caulking gun cartridge ortube, with parts of the wall exploded away to show the neat collapse ofthe bag or liner under pressure; and

FIGURE 4 is a partial, vertical, sectional view of the caulking guncartridge or tube, liner, and bag, which would contain the caulkingmaterial.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, there is shown a conventional,rechargeable caulking gun 11, having a seat 12 on horizontal bottomportion, a bifurcated front end 13 to receive between its segments, thetube of caulking compound or other material, and a rear end 14, atrigger 15, a piston 16, and -a ratchet 17 connected to the piston 16and engaged with the trigger by which it is propelled forward tocompress and discharge the caulking compound.

A spiral wound cylindrical cardboard tube 18, which is dimensioned to beinserted in the gun 11, is made with a nozzle 19 at one end. This tube18 is open at the other end, and is dimensioned to receive the piston16, which acts to compress the contents of the tube 18, and dischargethem from the nozzle 19. The tube 18 has an internal lamination ofslick, surfaced paper 29, or other such slick material, which is appliedto the spiral wound material of which the tube is made. This surface ofpaper 29 or other similar-material may be applied in the tube 18 in theform of a sleeve 22, which sleeve has a slick surface or low coeicientof friction. There are numerous well known smooth or slick surfacepapers, which may be adhesively secured to the inside of the tube 18.Also, if the tube 18 is made from spiral wound cardboard, the spool ofcardboard may be prefabricated with a slick inner surface, so that whenthe spool of cardboard is formed into the tube 18, a slick surface willalready be applied. In any of these manners, or in any other manner, acylindricaltube 18, dimensioned to t into the caulking gun 11, is formedwith relatively rigid walls, preferably made of cardboard and having aninterior surface lining of low friction character.

A bag 23 of waterproof, strong, plastic, flexible material, which issealed or closed in some other suitable manner at one end, is placed inthe tube 18. This bag is generally tubular in shape and having anexternal diameter slightly less than the internal diameter of the tube18. This bag is filled with the caulking compound or other material tobe extruded by the caulking gun. It is also sealed at the other end, sothat the contents thereof are tightly enclosed, will not leak out, andwill not lose their moisture to the atmosphere or to the tube 18. Whenit is desired to use the cartridge, it is placed in the caulking gun 11with the nozzle 19 between the bifurcated ends 13, and the piston 16 iscaused to enter the open end of the tube 18 and engage the bag 23. Thetrigger 15 is then manipulated so as to engage the ratchet 17 and urgethe piston 16 into pressing engagement with the bag 23. The front end ofthe bag 23 is pierced by a piercing element inserted through the nozzle19. Thus, the pressure exerted by the piston 16 causes the material inthe bag 23 to be extruded through the nozzle 19. It has been found thatthe bag collapses regularly, decreasing in length, as accordion-like,regular folds form upon its surface, as shown in FIGURE 3. The bag 23does not rupture at its opposite end, or at any point along the side,but folds into a neat compact mass when all of the contents of the tubehave been discharged. The bag 23 does not permit the contents to losetheir moisture or to leak out and moisten the sleeve 22, so that itweakens and breaks under pressure.

This is considerably more convenient and advantageous over conventionaltypes of dispensing tubes, which do not have the sealed bag 23. Suchconventional cartridges permit their contents to dry out and lose theirmoisture, thereafter being so dense and tough that they cannot beextruded. Furthermore, such materials when dry lose their capacity toadhere to and fill crevices to be caulked. Likewise, in the conventionalcartridge without a bag 23, but with the caulking material merelydeposited in the tube 18, once the sealed usually applied to the nozzleis broken in order to permit the discharge of the caulking material, thecaulking material has to be used up, for the remainder rapidly driesout. On the other hand, with the sealing bag as proposed herein, thecontents retain their preferred soft, moldable consistency for longperiods of time, even after the end of the bag 23 is pierced to permitthe caulking material to be discharged.

Furthermore, conventional tubes being loaded directly with caulkingmaterial frequently absorb moisture from the material and when pressureis applied, the spiral wound container ruptures because it has beenweakened by the absorption of moisture rand has lost its rigidity.Merely, however, to place a bag 23 within the conventional cartridgetube 18 has not been found to be a satisfactory experience because thebag when pressed does not smoothly collapse in accordion-like folds, asshown in FIGURE 3, but jams between the piston 16 and the inside Wall ofthe tube 18, ultimately rupturing the bag and, of course, permitting thecontents of the ruptured bag to dry out much more rapidly, and requiringtheir immediate use. Furthermore, the piston frequently jams in the tubeso that it is impossible to move it to discharge all of the contents ofthe tube 18. When greater pressure is applied, the tube 18 rupturesthereby preventing further extrusion of the contents of the bag 23. Inorder to insure that the bag 23 should not bind between the piston 16and the inner wall of the tube 18, various low friction coatings havebeen applied to the inner wall of the tube 18 with very little success,until it was discovered that an inner lining of slick surface paperadhered to the inside wall of the spiral wound tube 18, or looselydeposited therein, would accomplish the smooth, nonbinding collapse ofthe polyethylene bag. This prevents the rupture of the bag. It was alsofound that a sleeve of slick material could be used and placed insidethe tube 18. The ultimate result of the practice of the invention is toprovide a caulking gun cartridge having a sealed bag therein, which bagcollapses neatly under pressure Without jamming the piston, the contentsof which bag retain their moisture, do not dry out, do not wet the tube18, nor do they when extruded exert such pressure on the internal wallsof the tube 18, as to cause them to rupture. The bag 23, likewise, isnot jammed or seized by the piston 16 so that it ruptures, but rather itcollapses in a smooth accordion-like annulus at the bottom of the tube18.

The foregoing description is merely intended to illustrate an embodimentof the invention. The component parts have been shown and described.They each may have substitutes which may perform a substantially similarfunction; such substitutes may be known as proper substitutes for thesaid components and may have actually been known or invented before thepresent invention; these substitutes are contemplated as being withinthe scope of the appended claims, although they are not specificallycatalogued herein.

What is claimed is: 1. A cartridge of extrudable material comprising:(a) a generally tubular casing; (b) a discharge nozzle at one end of thecasing; (c) a generally tubular, moisture-resistant, collapsible bag,sealed at both ends, in the casing; (d) a filler of extrudable materialin the bag; (e) a slick surface on the inside of the casing. 2. Acartridge of extrudable material comprising: (a) the device according toclaim 1, in which the slick surface is a lamination of slick material.3. A cartridge of extrudable material comprising: (a) the deviceaccording to claim 1, and (b) the slick surface is a tubular sleeve ofslick material in the casing and closely conforming thereto. 4. Acartridge of extrudable material comprising: (a) the device according toclaim 1, and (b) the slick surface on the inside of the casing is alayer of slick paper. 5. A cartridge of extrudable material comprising:(a) the combination of -a caulking gun with, (b) the device according toclaim 1.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 580,052 4/ 1897Linden Meyer Z22-95 2,478,078 8/ 1949 Battenfeld 222-327 3,243,084 3/1966 Stenger 222-95 ROBERT B. REEVES, Primary Examiner.

H. S. LANE, Assistant Examiner.

1. A CARTRIDGE OF EXTRUDABLE MATERIAL COMPRISING: (A) A GENERALLYTUBULAR CASING; (B) A DISCHARGE NOZZLE AT ONE END OF THE CASING; (C) AGENERALLY TUBULAR, MOISTURE-RESISTANT, COLLAPSIBLE BAG, SEALED AT BOTHENDS, IN THE CASING (D) A FILLER OF EXTRUDABLE MATERIAL IN THE BAG; (E)A SLICK SURFACE ON THE INSIDE OF THE CASING.